Itís been a true culture shock for Luol Deng since heís been a Cleveland Cavalier over the past 26 days. Not in a good way, either.
Deng has seen how a team mired in losing since LeBron James left town wrongly caters to its young star players, even as they continue to undermine head coach Mike Brown at almost every turn. In Chicago, where Deng broke in and played nine-plus seasons, there is a winning culture where players are expected to act like professionals and understand that they will suffer the consequences if they step out of line.

As Deng recently told one close friend, ďthe stuff going on in practice would never be tolerated by the coaching staff or the front office back in Chicago. Itís a mess."

Deng was brought in to help clean it up when he arrived in a deal for Andrew Bynum on Jan. 7. But since then, heís seen players get thrown out of practice, take off their uniform tops at halftime and threaten not to play, mouth off to Brown and generally act like spoiled brats. Entering Saturdayís game at Houston, the Cavs had lost seven of their last 11 games since the Deng trade.

Dion Waiters is kicked out of practice but still gets his usual minutes vs. the Knicks.

There is no accountability, as Dion Waiters found out when he was kicked out of practice last week but still got his usual minutes against the Knicks. Brown isnít getting much help from GM Chris Grant, who is expected to be fired at seasonís end because of the losing and problems in the locker room.
The Cavs were supposed to challenge for a playoff spot, but not to worry. All the losing isnít keeping them from having a good time. During their trip to New York, several players enjoyed themselves immensely the night before the game against the Knicks, partying into the wee hours with J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert and 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick, and other NFL players. Their late-night/early morning carousing played a factor when they didnít even try in their blow-out loss to the Knicks.

we have to be careful who we move.. because the team has great chemistry now... the only way I would even consider moving DD is if T-Ross was a consistent 18-20ppg scorer. He is still young and is benefiting from Demar being here

Deng would be a good audition.. but I like how young are team is, we are built to be competitive for a long time. Need to get our young core into the playoffs

if we do make a deal, the only two guys I see us moving, Amir and probably T-Ross

we have to be careful who we move.. because the team has great chemistry now... the only way I would even consider moving DD is if T-Ross was a consistent 18-20ppg scorer. He is still young and is benefiting from Demar being here

only two guys I see us moving, Amir and probably T-Ross

Ross with his defensive ability, shooting and salary I doubt is going anywhere.

Deng actually doesn't outright deny it but says the article is one sided. I'm sure he tempered whatever he said and now its made to look worse. In the original article I thought this was the most shocking and says alot about the culture of the Cavs... and the Knicks.

Quote:

All the losing isn’t keeping them from having a good time. During their trip to New York, several players enjoyed themselves immensely the night before the game against the Knicks, partying into the wee hours with J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert and 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick, and other NFL players. Their late-night/early morning carousing played a factor when they didn’t even try in their blow-out loss to the Knicks.